Canon Rebel Digital SLR Which is the best lense to use for low light/night time and/or no flash photos?So many lenses, so hard to figure it all out. I take mostly action shots, moving targets such as children and sports, also make use of a good zoom lense. Also take pictures for the local high school for awards, competions, plays, etc., where the kids are sometimes moving and the lights are usually low. Please help. Thanks, Kim Canon Rebel Digital SLR Which is the best lense to use for low light/night time and/or no flash photos?So many lenses, so hard to figure it all out. I take mostly action shots, moving... » Read More Canon Rebel Digital SLR Which is the best lense to use for low light/night time and/or no flash photos?So many lenses, so hard to figure it all out. I take mostly action shots, moving targets such as children and sports, also make use of a good zoom lense. Also take pictures for the local high school for awards, competions, plays, etc., where the kids are sometimes moving and the lights are usually low. Please help. Thanks, Kim « Show Less
32351
Get the biggest (smallest f-stop) lens you can afford. If you get "close to the action" a 50mm ish is adequate. If you shoot from your seat in the middle of the theater, go 85mm ish. In my opinion (worth next to nothing) money on two f1.x fixed lenses is better spent than on an f2.x zoom.
32352
If money is a concern, try the "fantastic plastic" or sometimes called the "nifty fifty". That's the Canon EOS 50mm f/1.8. Great lens. Best optics per dollar, for sure. Only complaint people have had has been about the quality of background blur when shooting wide open. I haven't had an issue personally, it's acceptable for the price. It IS rather ugly compared to the quality of bokeh on the f/1.2L .. But you can buy 15 of the 1.8s for the price of the 1.2, so that's to be expected.The 1.4 has had some great reviews as well.
1199108
takes great pictures in low light. I find all I need to use is the "auto" mode. Shoots fast as well, no distortion. The 20x zoom is fantastic. I did own a Panasonic Lumix which was 4 years old. I researched Panasonic, Nikon, Fuji and this was the best and I have now owned it for over three months.. Also the battery lasts a long time as well!
423139
The kit lens is pretty cheap and probably the best Rebel kit lens to date. Plus its optically stabilized and, as you note, it'll help you get an idea what lens you'd like next so why not?
1034420
It depends on your definition of low light and picture use. I love the results, I shot at a school musical (Les Miss) (GX7 + 20mm f1.7) with excellent results (I can send you originals for your review at your request). The BEST option for low light will be a large format camera with very bright lenses, (maybe a Hasselblad?). I don't like to set the ISO over 1600, but the camera goes up to 25000. What is your current camera?, what will you measure the results aganist? What is your budget?, What will the pictures be used for?
1620737
I am very satisfied working in low-light conditions. How it will perform for you, is a guess, because I don't know which camera you would be putting it on. A lens will do what it is supposed to do when the camera meets or exceeds the lens' capabilities. On the Canon T1i, it does what I want it to. I'm sure it could be pushed to greater things, if attached to a more "high end" camera. I have panned a crowd, with only the stage lights burning, and gotten a satisfactory shot. Are there better lenses? Of course, but how "professional" do you have to be?
1771103
you seem to know alot Technology guy, so im replying to ya about a lens choice. Its the CanonEF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS for a 50D im purchasing but im not sure if its compatiable or will fit should I say, Because the 50D says its a EF mount and the rebels are EF-S mount. but since they say the 50D dont come with a lens that can take the use of the full power of the camera I wanted to get something I can afford and that lens i mentiond above is less than 300 usd. So please let me know if it works on the 50D without any problems thanks.
1329390
This lens would be a disaster for action at night. It's manual focus, the maximum aperture is f/8, there's no vibration reduction. As a matter of fact, it would barely be usable for action in full daylight. Sorry... if you want to shoot action at night, you're going to need a fast lens and a camera body that will do high ISO.
775021
The answer is a complex maybe. This lens is weak in aperture maxing out at f5.6 at full zoom. This means it needs slow shutter speeds or high ISO in low light such as very early morning or late dusk. If you are shooting still targets, allowing slower shutter, or have a camera that handles higher ISO well, allowing faster shutter, then the lens is fine. In full day the lens is strong, for the money, in my opinion. I have used it to good effect stopping action in sports up to sunset. But I'm using a Canon 5D mk3 which offers strong ISO noise reduction to allow faster shutter. So for dusk and dawn work, the question becomes, will your camera be able to negotiate the aperture gap. Hope this helps. The answer is a complex maybe. This lens is weak in aperture maxing out at f5.6 at full zoom. This means it needs slow shutter speeds or high ISO in low light such as very early morning or late dusk. If you are shooting still targets, allowing slower shutter, or have a camera that handles higher ISO well, allowing faster shutter, then the lens is fine. In full day the lens is strong, for the money, in my opinion. I have used it to good effect stopping action in sports up to sunset. But I'm using a Canon 5D mk3 which offers strong ISO noise reduction to allow faster shutter. So for dusk and... » Read More The answer is a complex maybe. This lens is weak in aperture maxing out at f5.6 at full zoom. This means it needs slow shutter speeds or high ISO in low light such as very early morning or late dusk. If you are shooting still targets, allowing slower shutter, or have a camera that handles higher ISO well, allowing faster shutter, then the lens is fine. In full day the lens is strong, for the money, in my opinion. I have used it to good effect stopping action in sports up to sunset. But I'm using a Canon 5D mk3 which offers strong ISO noise reduction to allow faster shutter. So for dusk and dawn work, the question becomes, will your camera be able to negotiate the aperture gap. Hope this helps. « Show Less
1716089
Most people, especially newbies, get a better feel for zoom magnification by comparing a digital lens ratio to the old 35mm standard. In this case, assuming you are using the 55-250 on something in the Digital Rebel series, the maximum zoom of 250mm compares to about 400mm on a 35mm film camera, which is considered a "long zoom" lens. Your 18-55mm kit lens has a maximum 35mm equivelent of about 90mm--perfect for portraiture, and about 1/4 the maxium magnification of the 55-250. (I'm rounding off everything here.) This is about the maxium zoom that you can hand-hold, assuming bright conditions allow a fast shutter speed and image stabilization (IS) is turned on. A tripod would typically be needed for anything longer than a digital 250mm, and anything longer than 150mm when conditions are less than optimum. So, for maxium zoom with minimal hassle, the 55-250mm IS is, in my opinion, the most effective Canon zoom for the price.
465671
VR is handy in low light when your subject is relatively static because it allows you to shoot with a lower ISO, which theoretically delivers better color, less noise, etc. VR won't help freeze action, however, so your wiggly kids will still look blurry. I have VR on my 16-85mm DX Nikkor, which I only occasionally use indoors without a flash. Also, a basic relationship still exists between focal range and image quality. At a given price point, the lens with the greater range will deliver the poorer results; it's simply more expensive for a manufacturer to engineer the more complex optics and mechanics for a big-range lens, which leaves less money available to finely tune a more simple system. My 16-85mm zoom has notably better image quality than Nikon's 18-200mm, and they're nearly the same price at $600. Along the same line, 3rd-party vendors typically trade-off build quality for image quality. So you can find Sigma, Tamron, or Tokina lenses with pretty nice image quality at prices considerably cheaper than a Nikon or Canon lens, but they aren't built as well. And in the end, yes, a pro Sigma will look cleaner than an amateur Nikon, but the comparable pro Nikon will almost always perform better in every category than the pro Sigma. You get what you pay for.
899094
Excellent lens for low light! For low light you need a fast lens - 1.4 is very fast. Use the 50mm for people pictures and you won't go wrong. Learn to use your manual focus during composition: that is, move closer (zoom-in) or further away (zoom-out) 'with your feet'.
1311073
I started with a canon rebel and I can use all of my lenses that I have on my 1 d except for the stock lens that came with the camera. Most of the time I use my 70 to 200 2.8 lens I shoot a lot of sports and I love the camera.hope this helps!
1942888
We recently got the EOS Rebel T5i and are very happy with it. Even though this set comes with 4 lenses, we really only use two ... telephoto and the one for portraits. For kids in sports, this is a great camera - up shutter speed and put it on the burst setting and you can get great quality still photos of action shots along with the set of them hitting the ball or catching the pass. We've used it for golfing and have some great series of pictures for driving the ball and sinking the putt!
1955942
I have a canon and it was one of the best lenses I ever used for the price. I bought a canon 18-200 and gave mine to my son and have thought about getting another. I think as long as you get the one for your camera you can't go wrong.
212088
The Canon 5D Mark III is extremely good at handling low light at high ISO rates with limited image noise in a reasonably light environment. You can set the camera on Auto and accept what it gives you or you can go manual, set your shutter speed and ISO and adjust the aperture until you get the best exposure for the conditions. I've been doing this professionally for 42 years as a photojournalist and rather it's film or digital, the quality of light impacts the quality of the image. If you are limited to shooting without an artificial light source, like a wedding where flash may not be allowed, take a tripod or at least a monopod to improve your chances of getting quality images without the camera shake that comes with smartphones used under the same circumstances.
1381524
Like any tool, it depends on what you want to use it for. This is probably the best lens out there for wide angle, night sky photography (although the 35mm 1.4 is very good too), and will be good for a wide variety of applications. Either one will do well in low light, but since I usually take photos of people, I have a preference for the 35mm. Either lens, when used in bright light, loses a lot of their advantages unless you intentionally place your camera in aperture priority mode and keep shooting in wide apertures.
80734
If you need a pretty good wide angle try the Rokkinon 14mm. It has only manual focus. The 20-35 Canon is a good lens. I have both and they are good for a budget. thx